Andrew Bennett reviews last season, continuing with the month of November 2008.
November 2008: "He's a cracking kid"
Saturday 1st November 2008: Cambridge 0-0 Rushden & Diamonds (BSP)
Att. 3,547 (away 287) | League position: 7th
United kept the same starting line-up as at Boston last week against a Rushden side which had been shorn of several of its extravagant but underperforming close season signings by under-pressure boss Garry Hill, who drafted in a raft of youngsters instead; Rob Wolleaston, however, remained in situ.
After a lively start there was a blow for the U's on the quarter hour when Beesley was forced to withdraw after a bloody clash of heads with Chris Hope, Holroyd stepping into the breach. Both sides proceeded to play plenty of Tantric football - hours of build-up, no climax - and while it was by no means a total bore, it was natural to feel a growing impatience.
Chances a-plenty were created, but were either missed through inaccurate finishing or blocked by keeper or defenders. Old foe Daryl Clare spurned a couple of decent opportunities for the visitors, Crow and Holroyd were unable to get that telling final touch for United, and when the latter did finally find the net in added time, he was denied by the closest of offside decisions.
On the plus side, the U's were unbeaten in seven games and although seventh in the table, were in fact only two points off the top. Brabin was positive: "We played some great football, another visiting goalkeeper gave an outstanding performance - I thought he was magnificent - and we created loads of chances... They kept going, kept believing, kept creating, and we just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net."
And Rushden? "They've come here with a gameplan and they've played their game of the season, and they're delighted with a 0-0. You could see by their reaction after this game, it was like they'd won the FA Cup."
Tuesday 4th November 2008: AFC Telford United 4-3 Cambridge United (Setanta Shield 3rd Round)
Scorers: Carey-Bertram 9, Rodgers 21, Fearns 54,73, McEvilly 15, 77 (pen), 90 | Att. 941 (away 75)
Brabin made wholesale changes for the most unloved competition in the calendar, with only Bolland and Jardim retaining their starting places; Stephen Drench got a debut, Farrell, Coulson and Collins made up the back four, there was a rare sighting of Darren Quinton alongside Jones and Convery in the middle, and McEvilly returned from suspension to partner Holroyd up front against the club reformed from the ashes of bust Telford United, now pushing for promotion back to the Conference.
Even the hosts made five changes from their weekend line-up. Drench got his eye in with a couple of early saves against a lively Telford outfit, but ex-U Danny Carey-Bertram gave them the lead with a free header that Drench got his hands to but could not stop.
Jones set up McEvilly for a splendid equaliser, the big man controlling neatly before turning and firing home, and not long after he saw a header clip the top of the bar, but the hosts were soon back in front when Carl Rodgers was afforded all the time in the world to poke home with a slightly deflected shot from twelve yards.
Telford dominated against a disjointed United side and Drench revealed his lack of confidence when he came off his line as Andy Brown advanced then changed his mind, Brown tried the lob and Drench first pushed the ball against Bolland then fumbled it onto the foot of the post. Brown hit the post again just before the interval and United's slipshod team of strangers looked to have it all to do.
The hosts hit the post again early in the second half, this time through Jon Adams, and there was a certain inevitability about sub Terry Fearns' goal that doubled their lead, his looping header easily beating a flailing Drench. Carden was introduced for Jardim to try to bring some sort of composure to his team, but it started to become embarrassing when Fearns converted James Meredith's cross at the near post for 4-1 with over fifteen minutes still remaining.
Crow replaced Jones, and suddenly United began belatedly to gel, McEvilly having a header cleared off the line, and when Holroyd was pushed in the box Big Mac fired home his second from the spot. The big man then had another header saved and Holroyd nodded one against the bar in a dramatic late revival, but by the time Evil had completed his hat-trick by converting a low Tonkin cross it was well into added time. Too little, too late.
There was no denying that the unfortunate Drench had endured something of a nightmare debut, and worse, bookings for Bolland and Carden had triggered one-match suspensions as they had both been their fifth of the season.
Brabin's reaction was predictable: "I'm very, very disappointed... I certainly wanted to win this competition and I never took it lightly." On the subject of Drench, he said "I think he was pretty nervous because he hasn't played since last season, and he'll be disappointed with himself. He started brightly and his kicking was excellent, but his timing was a little bit out when he was coming for the ball. He'll be disappointed but I know Drenchy's a lot better than that."
CRC had been enjoying a good season in the Ridgeons League, and in their alias as the United Youth team, had progressed to the first round proper of the FA Youth Cup, where they destroyed Colchester United 4-1 at the Abbey in a superb performance, with a hat-trick from the exciting Adam Marriott.
In his report on the match, youth head Jez George mused: "Watching this talent on show brought me back to the derisory remarks made to me by a nameless but now ex-member of the Board when we joined the club in May 2006. We have a three-year timescale to produce a first team player, bearing in mind our lack of funding and the fact that every Centre of Excellence player had left the system when it closed in November 2005.
"He thought the new set-up was a waste of time and without FA funding and the associated contractual safeguards, we would 'never produce a player'. Those words motivate everyone connected with Cambridge United Youth Development. If you include the three lads who joined CUFC from CCFC that summer, produced from the same set-up at another club, eight graduates from this youth scheme have made their first team debuts in the last 30 months."
The Youths gallantly bowed out of the Cup in the next round, 2-0 to Northampton Town, but went on from strength to strength in the league.
Now out of favour, Danny Brown joined Eastbourne Borough on loan until the New Year after being made available for transfer earlier in the week.
Saturday 8th November 2008: Kidderminster Harriers 1-0 Cambridge United (FA Cup 1st Round)
Scorer: Richards 17(pen) | Att. 1,717 (away 300)
For their second cup tie of the week United reverted to the side which started against Rushden, with the exception of Beesley, rested to the bench with his head swathed in bandages in favour of McEvilly, and Jardim, who was replaced wide in a 4-4-2 by Holroyd.
After a combative start the Harriers were awarded a soft penalty when Justin Richards stumbled against Tonkin, and he recovered to slot home before baiting the away fans with some fairly unnecessary antics.
United responded gamely if unconvincingly, and the hosts withdrew midfielder Russell Penn on the half hour due to his rampaging around kicking anything that moved like a kangaroo on steroids. Although he had already been booked, he took his withdrawal badly and got into a row with the bench when he tried to storm off down the tunnel, eventually permitted to do so in a trail of discarded tracksuit tops and well-kicked water bottles.
Richards then tumbled spectacularly over Potter's arms but this time picked up a booking for diving, to the Amber Army's glee, but the United team had no cause for happiness as they trailed off for a half-time hairdryer from their unimpressed manager.
They started part two much better, but Jardim was introduced for Willmott on 55 and his first contribution was to dance past a couple of opponents and smash a devastating shot goalward which was soaring into the top corner until it swerved just a little too much and crashed back off the upright with keeper Bartlett a relieved spectator.
Bartlett then produced a fantastic save to tip Bolland's header over the bar, Potter matched him with saves from Dean Bennett and Matthew Barnes-Homer, then Beesley replaced Crow and spurned a great chance to equalise when his over-deliberate shot was stopped in a one-on-one with Bartlett.
United pressed to the end, but the breakthrough eluded them and they sank to their fourth consecutive defeat at Aggborough. The team continued to promise without truly delivering... yet. Said Brabin, "We're absolutely gutted about the result and to be out of the FA Cup, and it was always going to be difficult away at Kidderminster, but we couldn't have put any more effort in."
With Carden and Bolland due to miss the next game and injuries still taking their toll - Quinton was crocked again, having suffered a reaction with his knee injury - Brabin remained positive about his squad: "We're used to that now and it's just a good opportunity for some of the other players to come in and show what they can do. They're all chomping at the bit for a chance to play on Saturday."
Saturday 15th November 2008: Crawley Town 2-2 Cambridge United (BSP)
Scorers: Pittman 30, Pinault 60 (pen), McEvilly 51 (pen), Convery 90 | Att. 1,570 (away 491) | League position: 7th
That nice Steve Evans entertained us pre-match with his usual rantings about how relatively small his budget was in the programme, especially when he signed his piece 'The Blue Square Special One.' Perhaps he had Special Needs.
Coulson and Farrell stepped in for Bolland and Carden, but Brabin went for radical change by also introducing Beesley, Convery and Willmott for Holroyd, Crow and Jardim; Willmott and McEvilly were the front two with Beesley 'in the hole' behind them in a wingless 4-3-1-2 formation.
A close but increasingly scrappy encounter saw its deadlock broken when Coulson slipped trying to deal with a cross into the Corridor of Uncertainty, and the predatory Jon-Paul Pittman pounced to lash home from close range. Thomas Pinault then clattered Gleeson with a hideous lunge that out-of-his-depth ref Cooper, already seemingly unable to tell a dive from a foul, deemed worthy only of a yellow. From there on in he gradually lost control of the match.
It was the ref who created United's equaliser, indicating a penalty as Convery floated a corner over although no-one claimed a foul from either side, but it was probably for a tug on McEvilly. Big Mac converted nonchalantly, but the man in black did not take long to even things up with another bizarre penalty award for the hosts this time, possibly for some sort of push as a free-kick came in. Baffling stuff, but Pinault converted to restore his side's lead.
More peculiar decisions followed, accompanied by the usual touchline rantings of Evans and Raynor and tempers continued to rise, but Cooper excelled even himself on 75: Farrell burst down the right channel, was tackled from behind by Pinault as he made to run into the area, stumbled under the challenge but regained his feet immediately and continued to tussle for the ball. The whistle of fate sounded. Penalty to United? Er, no. Somehow Mr Cooper was the only person in the ground who saw Farrell's slip under Pinault's tackle as a 'dive,' produced the deeply unfortunate United man's second yellow, and he was off, to the bemusement and incredulity of every player and spectator in the ground.
Seven minutes later Cooper evened the numbers up, this time correctly as Sam Rents scythed Challinor down horribly and was shown a deserved straight red. Crawley chose to sit on their lead but gutsy United pressed for an equaliser and they were rewarded in the third of the added seven minutes when Convery thumped a glorious 30-yarder into the bottom corner. Justice had been done.
Brabin commented, "I think everyone can see that once we start getting the rub of the green and start getting our players back on the pitch we're going to be an awesome team. I'm disappointed that we haven't won but I'm more delighted with the character of the lads. The way we came back was great."
Our friends at Setanta played musical chairs with the club's fixtures again when two more games were switched to Thursdays; Wrexham away moved back two days to 22nd January and Oxford at home shunted to 29th January from the 27th.
There was sensational last-minute news before Tuesday's match with the unexpected return of Scott Rendell from Peterborough, on loan until the New Year. He had scored one goal in three games for the Posh but fallen totally out of favour and had just completed a scoreless six-game loan spell at Yeovil. Chris Jones was allowed to return to Swansea after three starts and six sub appearances, almost uniformly underwhelming.
Tuesday 18th November 2008: Cambridge United 1-0 York City (BSP)
Scorer: Purkiss o.g. 51 | Att. 2,914 (away 120) | League position: 4th
Points behind Burton Albion: 3
Rendell was afforded a warm welcome by the Amber Army, but he started on the bench for a team which showed three changes from Crawley. Bolland returned for Coulson, the injured Challinor was replaced by Carden and Jardim stood in for the suspended Farrell, all three replacees unlucky for different reasons. Back to 4-4-2. York, the only team to draw more BSP matches than the U's thus far but with notably less victories, adopted a safety-first wing-back system.
United started brightly, passing the ball around well, and Beesley should have given them the lead on 11 when he screwed McEvilly's cross over the top from four yards. They dominated possession but could not find that killer ball, although the biggest surprise was the performance of ref Hopkins, who seemed to have undergone a personality transplant and was merrily waving play on instead of treating us to his usual incessant whistling.
The U's continued to press into the second half, and their pressure was finally rewarded when Jardim crossed towards Willmott, Ben Purkiss got in front of the United man, but somehow in trying to clear he managed to chest the ball unerringly past his keeper and into the top corner of the net.
York made some positive subs, which afforded United more space in which to attack, but no further breakthrough came and Rendell was introduced for Holroyd with twenty minutes remaining, sporting an unfamiliar number 27 shirt. McEvilly could have set him up for a fairytale tap-in after a bustling run a few minutes later, but chose instead to shoot and was denied by keeper Ingham.
The precariousness of United's lead, however, was demonstrated when Craig Farrell hit the foot of Potter's post with a breakaway header, and Crow replaced McEvilly so that the U's finished the match with a strike duo formerly together at London Road. They deserved the win, and the feeling was that on a eight-game unbeaten run without playing especially well in several of those matches, United were now ready to really push on.
Brabin was a happy bunny: "I thought some of the football we played from the first minute right to the end was brilliant... I was a little bit critical [at half-time] and told them we should be breaking our necks to get into the box and get on the end of the things, and it took an own goal for us to win but I'll take that."
York boss Colin Walker was magnanimous in defeat: "I tried earlier this season to get Scott Rendell to join us on loan but Peterborough wouldn't let him come, so good luck to him here. Good luck to Gary Brabin too. He's a cracking kid and he's got a good team and he will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season."
Rendell was glad to be back: "The reception out there was fantastic. I was a bit wary of what was going to happen when I came on - after all, there were a few unhappy fans when I left - but it was absolutely fantastic when I came on and I'm over the moon with the support of the fans... Nothing seems to have changed in the way the game is played at this level. The first thing that happened when I got out there was to be absolutely smashed by two of their players!"
Another fringe player, Jordan Collins, was farmed out to Weymouth on loan until 20th December, who now had former U's man Alan Lewer in charge after manager John Hollins has been suspended by the club. There was another fixture change when as a result of the rearranged television match against Oxford now due on Thursday 29th January, the following Saturday's match at Rushden was moved to the Sunday.
With Rendell now on board, Brabin was delighted with the 'embarrassment of riches' at his disposal in the way of striking options: "Lee McEvilly has scored a few goals and Scott coming in has given everyone a bit of a lift, but the work that Bees does doesn't go unnoticed and we've also got Danny Crow getting fitter and stronger every day, and Chris Holroyd is chomping at the bit as well so it's a good position to be in."
Tuesday 22nd November 2008: Altrincham 1-0 Cambridge United (BSP)
Scorer: Lawton 45 | Att. 1,123 (away 255) | League position: 6th
Points behind Burton Albion: 6
After pride... Notwithstanding the unbeaten run, Brabin altered the formation to 4-3-3, dropping wingers Willmott and Jardim in favour of Challinor and a first start for Rendell.
Alty laid siege to the United goal in the early stages, but the pace soon dropped and the teams, with similar set-ups, tended to cancel each other out. Rendell fired his first chance just over, then Beesley was foiled by a fine stop from keeper Andy Ralph as the U's peppered his goal with shots. But the hosts took the lead against the run of play on half-time when skipper Robbie Lawton latched onto a clearance and drove home from 25 yards.
With only seven minutes gone of the second half Brabin made another bold change, reverting to 4-4-2 by introducing Jardim and Crow for Beesley and McEvilly with Convery employed as the second winger. United enjoyed a good spell of pressure but could not penetrate the home defence, then the game tilted back Alty's way, but the U's back line held firm.
United began to run out of ideas, not to mention luck, but in a late flurry Bolland was denied by Ralph, as was Hatswell. The hosts, however, held firm for a well-earned win.
Brabin called it "Very frustrating. I genuinely thought this was going to be the turnaround for us. I was excited about the forwards we had on show today, we had four attackers on the bench and it's a very attack-minded system we play. I'll take it on the chin that we're not scoring goals but what I won't take on the chin is the first-half performance. We were very below par and that's lost us the game."
Later that week, top scorer Lee McEvilly joined Rochdale on loan until 5th January with a view to a permanent transfer. Brabin explained: "We knew what type of character Lee was and I think we got more out of him in four months than some people have got out of him in the last four years. I think we got the best out of him but we just felt we had to freshen things up.
"Also, at the back of Lee's mind, his family is still in Liverpool and he's not prepared to move down here, which is a factor, and we feel this is the right thing to do. It's a bold decision but we feel it's the right one. We demand a high workrate from the players and I feel that sometimes Lee didn't always give us that."
It was spooky coincidence time, not to mention the odd conspiracy theory, when United were drawn away to Histon in the FA Trophy for the third season in a row. The clubs would be meeting three times in less than a month, and bearing in mind that old saying about familiarity, the Trophy tie was not made all-ticket.
A smart new away strip unveiled, of Cambridge blue shirt and shorts, to be used for the first time at Torquay on 6th December. Wayne Purser revealed, "We discussed various options with Vandanel and decided on the light blue and navy design for practical and fashion reasons."
The club (or, more precisely, the limited company) revealed that its Audited Accounts for the year ended May 2008 showed losses almost halved at £277,795 - including the £200,000 rental on the stadium - and turnover up 62% at £1.878m.
Norman Gautrey talked us through them: "We're heading in the right direction. Whilst the success of last season underpinned a large proportion of the improved finances, there was also a significant increase in the playing budget from Jan 2008 onwards. This was as a result of the unbudgeted income from the progress in the FA Cup as well as the loan and subsequent sale of Scott Rendell to Peterborough United.
"The decision was made to support the manager and invest additional funds to aid in the push to reach at least the playoffs and secure the financial rewards and hopefully promotion. The increase in spending was also underwritten financially by the Board of Directors should we have failed in reaching the playoffs and the associated financial rewards."
The Boxing Day game at home to Histon was now to be all-ticket after consultation with the Police, to ensure that there would be no safety issues on the day of the game.
Courtney Pitt returned to the first team squad after playing twice for CRC.
Tuesday 29th November 2008: Cambridge 1-0 Ebbsfleet United (BSP)
Scorer: Rendell 45 | Att. 2,807 (away 149) | League position: 6th
Points behind Burton Albion: 6
On the coldest day of the season so far, Brabin changed formation again, back to 4-4-2 for the visit of Liam Daish and Alan Kimble's Internet warriors. Crow and Rendell spearheaded the attack ahead of recalled wingers Jardim and Willmott, with Beesley and Challinor consigned to the bench. The visitors fielded the most unusually named strike duo seen at the Abbey this season in Matthew Delicate and Michael Gash.
After a well observed minute's silence for former club director Jack Cook, a board member during the original glory years of the late Seventies and early Eighties, United started well and Crow had a golden chance to open the scoring on 10, but with the whole goal at his mercy and almost too much time to think about it, he opted for power rather than placement, and keeper Lance Cronin responded with a superb reflex save to tip onto the bar and off for a corner.
The U's enjoyed plenty of neat build-up play but could not manage that killer touch in the final third until on the verge of half-time, Convery's corner was cleared only as far as Hatswell in the left-hand corner of the box, and his low angled drive into the heart of a crowded area was poked home by, who else, the returning hero, Rendell. The knack was back.
Pitt made a welcome return to first team action as sub for Willmott halfway through the second half, and near the end he had a chance of glory when he sprinted onto a Hatswell skier, controlling with superb skill, but over-excitedly blasted over the bar. The 1-0 scoreline was ultimately more comfortable than it suggested over a mediocre Fleet side, and with six consecutive home clean sheets, Fortress Abbey felt a very safe place indeed.
Brabin was content: "It's always nicer if you can win by more, but at the moment I'll take these 1-0 wins. They're convincing 1-0 wins and the fans aren't stupid - I think they've been pleased with the last two performances at home, albeit 1-0 wins. We're playing some good football, creating loads of chances and we still believe we're going to score a lot of goals."
It was a winter of discontent for Daish: "I needed sixteen players involved, all pulling the same way and playing at the top of their game, but instead of sixteen I got seven... If myself, Alan Kimble, Paul Wilson the physio and Ian Docker had been out there in place of Cambridge's back line we would have been in control because we were too static... There were too many individuals playing in their own little worlds hoping someone else was going to make the breakthrough."
For Rendell it was the perfect return: "It's what you dream of - a 1-0 win and you score the winner on your return. It couldn't have gone any better."
Andrew Bennett
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